Indian Railways train sets in demand globally! Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways is all set to supply two more Diesel Multiple Unit (DEMU) train sets to Sri Lanka. Recently, RITES has signed a contract worth $22.4 million with the neighbouring country Sri Lanka for the supply of two additional fully air-conditioned Diesel Multiple Unit train sets. RITES Limited is a company established under the aegis of Indian Railways. The contract, which will give a boost to Modi government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, has been signed with the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, Government of Sri Lanka. The supply of two additional DEMU train sets will be done in the financial year 2020-21.
A few days ago, a new train service was jointly flagged off in Sri Lanka by Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Arjuna Ranatunga and High Commissioner of India Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The new train- Pulathisi Express, was flagged off from Fort railway station in Colombo to Polonnaruwa. The new train set has also been supplied by RITES Limited under an Indian Line of Credit. The ‘Make in India’ Pulathisi Express boasts various world-class passenger amenities including an on-board entertainment system, modular interiors as well as fully rotating seats in AC chair car coaches for passenger comfort.
Earlier, an agreement was signed between Indian Railways and Sri Lanka Railways for supply of six DEMU train sets to Sri Lanka. Each of these train set comprises of 13 coaches, totaling 78 coaches for six DEMU train sets. All these DEMU train sets have been manufactured under’Make in India’ by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.
Some of the salient features of these DEMU sets include cushioned seats, rotatable seats in AC chair car, oscillating-type fans covering 360 degrees with wide air circulation facility, aluminium extruded frame luggage racks with glass bottom, modular toilets, GPS based passenger information LCD display, LED lighting, etc. Also, 10 diesel locomotives are to be supplied to Sri Lanka as per the agreement.
Info- financial express